Mitch Epstein
Rocks and Clouds
September 8 – October 22, 2016
Clouds #33, New York City, from the series Rocks and Clouds, 2014, 40 x 30 inch or 68 x 54 inch gelatin silver print
Rockaway, Queens, from the series Rocks and Clouds, 2014, 30 x 40 inch or 54 x 68 inch gelatin silver print
Clouds #94, New York City, from the series Rocks and Clouds, 2015, 40 x 30 inch or 68 x 54 inch gelatin silver print
Coney Island, Brooklyn, from the series Rocks and Clouds, 2014, 30 x 40 inch or 54 x 68 inch gelatin silver print
Clouds #30, New York City, from the series Rocks and Clouds, 2014, 40 x 30 inch or 68 x 54 inch gelatin silver print
Clouds #67, New York City, from the series Rocks and Clouds, 2014, 40 x 30 inch or 68 x 54 inch gelatin silver print
Central Park, New York II, from the series Rocks and Clouds, 2014, 30 x 40 inch or 54 x 68 inch gelatin silver print
Clouds #5, New York City, from the series Rocks and Clouds, 2014, 40 x 30 inch or 68 x 54 inch gelatin silver print
Central Park, New York IV, from the series Rocks and Clouds, 2014, 30 x 40 inch or 54x 68 inch gelatin silver print
Clouds #101, New York City, from the series Rocks and Clouds, 2015, 40 x 30 inch or 68 x 54 inch gelatin silver print
Clouds #89, New York City, from the series Rocks and Clouds, 2015, 40 x 30 inch or 68 x 54 inch gelatin silver print
Two Tree Island, Pelham Bay Park, Bronx, from the series Rocks and Clouds, 2014, 30 x 40 inch or 54 x 68 inch gelatin silver print
Clouds #34, New York City, from the series Rocks and Clouds, 2014, 40 x 30 inch or 68 x 54 inch gelatin silver print
Central Park North, New York, from the series Rock and Clouds, 2014, 40 x 30 inch or 68 x 54 inch gelatin silver print
Clouds #76, New York City, from the series Rocks and Clouds, 2015, 40 x 30 inch or 68 x 54 inch gelatin silver print
Clouds #81, New York City, from the series Rocks and Clouds, 2015, 40 x 30 inch or 68 x 54 inch gelatin silver print
Crotona Park, Bronx, from the series Rocks and Clouds, 2014, 30 x 40 inch or 54 x 68 inch gelatin silver print
Clouds #87, New York City, from the series Rocks and Clouds, 2015, 40 x 30 inch or 68 x 54 inch gelatin silver print
Indian Prayer Rock, Pelham Bay Park, Bronx, from the series Rocks and Clouds, 2014, 40 x 30 inch or 68 x 54 inch gelatin silver print
Clouds #103, New York City, from the series Rocks and Clouds, 2015, 40 x 30 inch or 68 x 54 inch gelatin silver print
Hunter Island, Pelham Bay Park, Bronx, from the series Rocks and Clouds, 2015, 30 x 40 inch or 54 x 68 inch gelatin silver print
Tulip Tree, Alley Pond Park, Queens II from the series New York Arbor, 2011, 40 x 30 inch or 68 x 54 inch gelatin silver print
Weeping Beech, Woodlawn Cemetery, Bronx, from the series New York Arbor, 2011, 40 x 30 inch or 68 x 54 inch gelatin silver print
Bald Cypress, Northern Boulevard, Queens, from the series New York Arbor, 2011, 40 x 30 inch or 68 x 54 inch gelatin silver print
American Elm, Eastern Parkway, Brooklyn, from the series New York Arbor, 2012, 40 x 30 inch or 68 x 54 inch gelatin silver print
American Elm, Central Park, New York, from the series New York Arbor, 2012
Weeping Willow, La Plaza Cultural Garden, New York, from the series New York Arbor, 2012, 40 x 30 inch or 68 x 54 inch gelatin silver print
Caucasian Wingnut, Brooklyn Botanic Garden, from the series New York Arbor, 2011, 40 x 30 inch or 68 x 54 inch gelatin silver print
Weeping Beech, Brooklyn Botanic Garden, from the series New York Arbor, 2011, 40 x 30 inch or 68 x 54 inch gelatin silver print
Eastern Cottonwood, Sprague Avenue, Staten Island II, from the series New York Arbor, 2011, 40 x 30 inch or 68 x 54 inch gelatin silver print
Silver Linden, Prospect Park, Brooklyn, from the series New York Arbor, 2011, 40 x 30 inch or 68 x 54 inch gelatin silver print
American Elm, Central Park, New York, from the series New York Arbor, 2012
English Elm, Washington Square Park, New York, from the series New York Arbor
Gavin Coal Power Plant, Chesire, Ohio, from the series American Power, 2003, 45 x 58 inch or 70 x 92 inch chromogenic color print
BP Carson Refinery, California, from the series American Power, 2003, 45 x 58 inch or 70 x 92 inch chromogenic color print
Hoover Dam and Lake Mead, Nevada, from the series American Power, 2007, 45 x 58 inch or 70 x 92 inch chromogenic color print
Green Mountain Wind Farm, Fluvana, Texas, from the series American Power, 2005, 45 x 58 inch or 70 x 92 inch chromogenic color print
New Orleans Museum of Art II, from the series American Power, 2005, 45 x 58 inch or 70 x 92 inch chromogenic color print
Raymond, West Virginia, from the series American Power, 2003, 45 x 58 inch or 70 x 92 inch chromogenic color print
Lake Mead National Park, Nevada, from the series American Power, 2003, 45 x 58 inch or 70 x 92 inch chromogenic color print
Trans-Alaska Pipeline, from the series American Power, 2003, 45 x 58 inch or 70 x 92 inch chromogenic color print
Poca High School and Amos Plant, West Virginia, from the series American Power, 2004, 45 x 58 inch or 70 x 92 inch chromogenic color print
Warehouse (Lamps in storeroom), from the series Family Business, 2000, 30 x 40 inch or 50 x 60 inch chromogenic color print
Tag Sale III, from the series Family Business, 2000, 30 x 40 inch or 50 x 60 inch chromogenic color print
Liquidation Sale I, from the series Family Business, 2000, 30 x 40 inch, 50 x 60 inch or 60 x 76 inch chromogenic color print
Dad's Briefcase, from the series Family Business, 2000, 30 x 40 inch chromogenic color print.
Key Board for Epstein & Weiss Real Estate at Epstein Furniture, from the series Family Business, 2000, 30 x 40 inch, 50 x 60 inch or 60 x 76 inch chromogenic color print
Office Door, from the series Family Business, 2000, 50 x 60 inch chromogenic color print
Flag, from the series Family Business, 2000, chromogenic color print
Dad, Hampton Ponds III, from the series Family Business, 2003, 30 x 40 inch or 50 x 60 inch chromogenic color print
Apartment 304, 398 Main Street, from the series Family Business, 2001, 30 x 40 inch or 60 x 76 inch chromogenic color print
Showroom II, from the series Family Business, 2001, 30 x 40 inch, 50 x 60 inch or 60 x 76 inch chromogenic color print
Dad and Mom, Crestview Country Club II, from the series Family Business, 2003, 30 x 40 inch, 50 x 60 inch or 60 x 76 inch chromogenic color print
Liquidation Sale V, from the series Family Business, 2000, 30 x 40 inch, 50 x 60 inch or 60 x 76 inch chromogenic color print
Untitled NY (Oranges and Blue Curtain), from the series The City, 1997
Untitled NY (Clean and Neat), from the series The City, 1997, 24 x 30 inch or 40 x 50 inch chromogenic color print
Untitled NY (Man on Escalator w/ Red Wall), from the series The City, 1997, 24 x 30 inch or 40 x 50 inch chromogenic color print
Untitled NY (Calvin Klein), from the series The City, 1997, 24 x 30 inch or 40 x 50 inch chromogenic color print
Untitled NY (Coat on Bushes), from the series The City, 1997, 24 x 30 inch chromogenic color print
Untitled NY (Five on Bench), from the series The City, 1997, 24 x 30 inch or 40 x 50 inch chromogenic color print
Cocoa Beach I, FL, from the series Recreation, 1983, 20 x 24 inch or 30 x 40 inch chromogenic color print
Madison Avenue, New York City, from the series Recreation, 1973, 30 x 40 inch chromogenic color print
West Side Highway, New York City, from the series Recreation, 1977, 30 x 40 inch chromogenic color print
Tonawanda, New York, from the series Recreation, 1974, 20 x 24 inch or 30 x 40 inch chromogenic color print
Central Park IV, from the series Recreation, 1977, 20 x 24 inch or 30 x 40 inch chromogenic color print
Miami Beach II, from the series Recreation, 1976, 20 x 24 inch or 30 x 40 inch chromogenic color print
Mitch Epstein’s photographs offer a subtle and contemplative approach to a range of critical societal issues within the United States, continuously questioning what it means to be American. From his early pioneering color photographs of American life in the seventies and eighties, to his most recent series focusing on the confluence of nature and human society in New York, Epstein has consistently created formally complex images that result from a highly introspective approach to photography.
In 2003, Epstein began his series American Power, which examines how energy is produced and consumed in the United States. These large-scale color photographs of production sites and their surroundings urge viewers to consider man’s conquest of nature and the power of government, corporations and mass consumption within America. With the black-and-white series New York Arbor (2011-2012) and Rocks and Clouds (2014-2015), Epstein explores similar concerns, narrowing his focus to the five boroughs of New York City. By foregrounding rocks, clouds and trees, Epstein inverts people’s usual view of the city, so that human existence becomes secondary to nature. Primarily working with an 8x10 field camera, Epstein celebrates slow photography in a digital age.
Born in 1952 in Holyoke, Massachusetts, Epstein lives and works in New York City. His work has been exhibited widely, including at The Noguchi Museum, New York; Smithsonian Museum of American Art, Washington, D.C.; Museum of Modern Art/PS1, New York; Saatchi Gallery, London; Fondation Henri Cartier Bresson, Paris; and Foam fotografiemuseum, Amsterdam, among others. His work has also been collected by major museums, including Art Institute of Chicago; Museum of Modern Art, New York; Metropolitan Museum, New York; Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; J Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles; Tate Modern, London; and The Victoria and Albert Museum, London.
He has worked as a director, cinematographer, and production designer on several films, including Dad, Salaam Bombay!, and Mississippi Masala. In 2015, Epstein performed American Power, a theatrical rendition of his photographic series, with cellist Erik Friedlander at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London. The Walker Art Center in Minneapolis commissioned and premiered the work in 2013.
Epstein has won numerous awards including the Prix Pictet Photography Prize (2010); the Berlin Prize in Arts and Letters (2008); and a Guggenheim Fellowship (2003). His twelve books include the forthcoming Rocks and Clouds; New York Arbor (2013); Berlin (2011); American Power (2009); Mitch Epstein: Work (2006); Recreation: American Photographs 1973-1988 (2005); and Family Business (2003), which won the 2004 Kraszna-Krausz Photography Book Award.
